Having a look at the song list it becomes apparently clear that this is a rather dark and negative album, definitely not many cheery titles in the mix, something that maybe we have become accustomed to over the years with Lana. What is nice to see though is the fact that she actually bothered to write them herself, there is some other input from outside sources but at the heart of all the songs is her name. This is something that for some reason is missing from the more artificial artists in recent years and so maybe we will be getting songs from a more personal stance in this album, and that hopefully will give it meaning.
I will now pick out the feature songs from this album and then rate the album as a whole.
Ultraviolence
This is the title track for the album and so obviously I'm expecting something big and memorable, unfortunately that doesn't quite happen, instead we get a rather dull and forgettable song that really doesn't appeal to me at all, and doesn't reflect the title in the slightest. It is really the typical Lana failed romance story that we have become used to and so this doesn't feel special at all, it's just not very original. One thing I will praise though is the excellent job on recording. Black Keys member Dan Auerbach does an excellent job, which is a shame as the songs quality really doesn't merit his performance. I will also praise the lyrics, they certainly are very powerful and do carry at least some meaning, however I think this meaning is lost through the lumbering pace of the song. This is unfortunately just a title track that feels uninspired and very dull, not a particularly good start.
Rating: 3/10
Shades of Cool
I am happy to report that this is much better, I really think Lana has understood her mistakes from the title track and this is everything that Ultraviolence should have been. Again we get this very dark theme for the song, however this time it works a lot better due to the song being well paced and the recording being of a very high standard. The guitar solo is also very nice, this is a feature that most modern songs seem to fall flat on but this time we get a nicely paced and executed solo that fits right in with the genre. However at the end of the song I still feel that there is something missing, it may be at a technically high standard but it really should feel a lot more epic and powerful than it actually does, it just seems to me that she hasn't quite pulled it off. If anything it ends up feeling like a Bond soundtrack, which I'm pretty sure is not the message I'm supposed to be getting from it, but it is still definitely an improvement on the title track.
Rating: 6/10
Brooklyn Baby
This was the sleeper hit of the record for me, I really didn't expect anything before listening to this, it just sounded like a dull title and the cover looked like the generic rubbish that has haunted her previous work. But to my surprise it was actually quite good, very good in fact. Lana has finally got the balance between haunting, dark lyrics and a song that doesn't feel empty. The feeling I got from this song was far greater than any of the others, it's just a nice break from the endless doom and gloom. I'm not going to start claiming this as the greatest song of all time, it's far from that, but what it is is an exceptionally paced song that really stands out from the rest of the album, it just sounds genuinely good, and it even pokes fun at hipsters, an added bonus from an already good song.
Rating: 8/10
West Coast
I have already reviewed this single, so for an in depth analysis please read that. In short I didn't like this song at all, it' really dull from start to finish and the lyrics end up sounding like a holiday advert and have virtually no meaning. While the previous song was a genuine pleasure to listen to, this is the direct opposite, it feels stripped out and lacks any real substance for it to be any good. A very disappointing song.
Rating 2/10
The rest of the songs on the album certainly aren't terrible, but they're not really noteworthy. There's certainly nothing particularly wrong with them, but in the end they just fall flat and really don't stand out from the crowd. It probably doesn't help that they all center around the same subject, that is that all women are evil and every single relationship will not work. Not really the best of topics, especially when every single song seems to be about that, which really doesn't make sitting through the album any easier.
My final thoughts on this album are that at the end of the day it's just a bit monotonous, there really isn't a variety of material that makes listening to it a joy. I certainly wouldn't choose to sit through it because after a rather short period of time it just ends up becoming very dull and there really isn't an epic song that can break that streak. Don't get me wrong there are certainly good examples of pleasurable songs that occasionally pop up but many of them fail to leave any sort of lasting impact. I will definitely give the album credit for originality, there isn't anything like it in the charts at the moment and so that is refreshing to see, but we don't really get Anthony Burgess' vision of ultraviolence in the end, just some minor inconveniences.
Final Rating: 5/10 **1/2
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